Port Towns & Diplomacy: Japanese naval visits to Britain and Australia in the early 20th century

Essential information

Join us for a free talk in central London on the relationship between the British Empire and the Japanese navy in the early 20th century by historian Dr Melanie Bassett. All are welcome and there is no need to book.

Dr Bassett (Liverpool John Moores University), will be exploring the relationship that citizens of the British Empire had with one of their most controversial allies of the pre-First World War era: the Japanese.

The 1902 Anglo-Japanese Alliance presented some interesting complications to Edwardian beliefs about racial hierarchy and challenged the idea of British military supremacy. The alliance allowed the Royal Navy to concentrate their fleets in European waters but caused resentment due to fears of so-called ‘Yellow Peril’ and the increasing influence of the Imperial Japanese Navy in the Pacific, a direct threat to the security of Australia and New Zealand.

Find out how the Japanese fleet were received at Portsmouth in Britain and Sydney and Melbourne in Australia, and how both host nations and their Nippon guests negotiated the cultural and racial divide against the background of a contentious alliance.